News

Nathan Strout The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has issued nine new contracts to companies developing drone swarm technologies, the agency announced April 13. Through the agency's Offensive Swarm-Enabled Tactics program, or OFFSET, it hopes to foster technology developments that will enable 250 small unmanned air or ground robots to work together in support of the war fighter. The program works in five main areas: swarm tactics, swarm autonomy, human-swarm teaming, virtual environment and physical test bed. The agency has hosted multiple swarm sprints to encourage rapid innovation in one or more of those areas. The nine awards mark the fifth such swarm sprint, with this one focused on swarm tactics and physical test beds in an urban environment. “The urban environment presents compelling challenges such as tall buildings, tight spaces, and limited sight lines,” Timothy Chung, the OFFSET program manager in DARPA's Tactical Technology Office, said in an agency news release. “Enhancing the Swarm Physical Testbeds that tackle those unique challenges is a desired goal of the OFFSET program.” Four of the participants will be tackling the swarm tactics portion of the sprint, where they will be asked to solve problems such as “disrupting the opposition's decision making, obfuscating swarm intent, updating maps of a dynamic environment, and maintaining the swarm's communications indoors.” The remaining five performers will work on the physical test bed thrust area, which includes reducing deployment times, utilizing new navigation sensors, incorporating fixed-wing aircraft into the swarm and enhancing mobility for robotic, wheeled vehicles in urban settings. Participants will incorporate their technologies into the OFFSET swarm systems architecture to demonstrate their respective solutions, with field tests taking place in December 2020. The recipients are as follows: Thrust area: Physical test bed Michigan Technological University/Michigan Tech Research Institute Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory HDT Expeditionary Systems, Inc. Sentien Robotics Texas A&M University Thrust area: Swarm tactics Michigan Technological University/Michigan Tech Research Institute Charles River Analytics, Inc. Soar Technology, Inc. Northwestern University https://www.c4isrnet.com/unmanned/2020/04/20/darpa-to-foster-urban-drone-swarm-tech-with-nine-new-contracts/

Valerie Insinna WASHINGTON — Since Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Dave Goldfein took over as the service's top general in 2016, the Air Force has made figuring out how to connect its weapons with those of the Army, Navy and Marine Corps its biggest priority. The Air Force is set to have spent $300 million on the Advanced Battle Management System through fiscal year 2021. However, the service is still struggling to define what ABMS needs to do and how much it will cost, the Government Accountability Office said in a report released April 16. "The Air Force has not established a plan or business case for ABMS that identifies its requirements, a plan to attain mature technologies when needed, a cost estimate, and an affordability analysis. ... To date, the Air Force has not identified a development schedule for ABMS, and it has not formally documented requirements,” it read. That could have significant consequences for the program down the road, GAO continued: “GAO's previous work has shown that weapon systems without a sound business case are at greater risk for schedule delays, cost growth, and integration issues.” The GAO made four recommendations: create a cost estimate and a plan laying out how to afford the program, formalize the decision-making authorities of those involved in ABMS, and develop a list of technologies that are expected to fit into the initial system. In a response to the report, Kevin Fahey, the assistant secretary of defense for acquisition, concurred with all four recommendations — a sign that, going forward, the Air Force may be required to solidify more of its ABMS plans. The Air Force has maintained that the program's unconventional structure and methodology is a feature, not a bug. It wants to use a series of experiments to help discover and mature new technologies that can be weaved in alongside legacy platforms. For instance, the first ABMS experiment connected SpaceX's Starlink constellation with an AC-130 gunship, and the next demo will employ a Kratos Valkyrie drone carrying communications gear that enables the F-22 and F-35 to securely share data while allowing them to maintain stealth. Air Force officials have said technologies that are proven to be successful and mature during the experiments could become programs of record inside the ABMS family of systems. However, the Air Force does not seem to have a firm plan for what technologies it needs and when to bring them online, the GAO said. The service has identified 28 development areas that includes a new cloud network, a new common radio, and apps that provide different ways of presenting and fusing data. However, none of those areas are linked to specific technical requirements, and the Air Force hasn't explained what organizations are responsible for the development of those products. In one damning section, GAO compared ABMS with several cancelled programs with similar aims, such as the Army's Future Combat Systems program that sought to field a family of manned and unmanned technologies and the Joint Tactical Radio System, which was intended to create a government-owned software defined radio. These programs publicly flamed out after millions of dollars were spent in development, in part because certain technologies were not mature enough and caused the schedule to unravel. The scope of ABMS will be far larger than those previous programs, the Pentagon's Office of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation told the GAO. But because the Air Force has not provided a detailed acquisition strategy, CAPE does not have confidence that the Air Force will be able succeed where those programs have failed. “Given the criticality of the battle management command and control mission and the planned retirement of legacy programs, the lack of an ABMS business case introduces uncertainty regarding whether the needed capabilities will be developed within required time frames,” the GAO said. Figuring out who has responsibility and decision-making authority for ABMS is also a messy proposition, the GAO said. The ABMS effort is led by a chief architect, Preston Dunlap, who is responsible for managing tradeoffs among the portfolio of technologies and guide experimentation efforts. However, existing programs that will be part of the ABMS family will retain their separate program office with their own independent management, and the Air Force has yet to clarify whether Dunlap will be able to redirect those program's funding to fall in line with ABMS objectives. For example, the Air Force's program office for space is currently working on a data integration project that could correspond with ABMS efforts to field a cloud network. But “although some ABMS funds have been obligated for this project, there is no documentation to support that the Chief Architect will be able to direct the PEO to change the project objectives or timeline to align with ABMS requirements once they are defined,” the GAO said. The role of the Air Force Warfighting Integration Capability or AFWIC, which was established in 2017 to help define how the service will fight wars in the future, is also unclear. An AFWIC senior official told the GAO that the organization began leading the service's multidomain command and control initiatives in 2019, but it is uncertain whether AFWIC also has the power to change the direction of the ABMS program. https://www.c4isrnet.com/c2-comms/2020/04/20/is-the-air-forces-advanced-battle-management-system-program-gearing-up-to-be-the-next-major-acquisition-failure/

By: Michael D. Brasseur , Rob Murray , and Sean Trevethan Last December, at their meeting in London, NATO leaders declared: “To stay secure, we must look to the future together. We are addressing the breadth and scale of new technologies to maintain our technological edge, while preserving our values and norms.” These two sentences were, in part, a nod to a significant piece of work the alliance is undertaking within the broader mandate of alliance innovation — NATO's Maritime Unmanned Systems Initiative. Granted, on its own this sounds both technical and narrow within the context of emerging technology, a context that includes: artificial intelligence, data, space, hypersonic weapons, bio technologies, quantum research, autonomy and more. So why are maritime unmanned systems relevant now? Simply put, developing the numbers of manned submarines, aircraft and ships required to keep pace with potential adversaries is simply not economically viable (almost $3 billion per Virginia-class U.S. submarine). Not since the Cold War has NATO needed the volume of maritime forces to protect our seas and oceans from would-be foes. NATO's areas of interest are expanding. As climate change affects the Arctic, new maritime routes are being created, which Russia in particular is exploiting with its submarines and ships. This matters because it exposes a new flank on NATO's high-north periphery, and if left unchecked is a potential vulnerability whilst also being a potential opportunity; this, coupled with an increasing need to protect our undersea data infrastructure means NATO's geostrategic responsibilities continue to grow. Therefore, if allies are to reinforce NATO's maritime posture, deter Russian aggression, guard against Chinese activity, and protect both critical national infrastructure and our sea lines of communication, NATO must do things differently and at the speed of relevance. NATO's Maritime Unmanned Systems Initiative was agreed by 13 defense ministers in October 2018. Since then, the initiative's success has attracted the participation of three more allies and garnered significant interest from all of NATO's maritime nations. The political agreement struck in 2018 provided the mandate for NATO to bring together disparate strands of common work ongoing within nations. NATO, acting as a network, enabled allies to become greater than the sum of their parts. The focus is threefold: utilize world-leading research to increase allied interoperability between conventional forces and unmanned drones; establish new tactics for our sailors to truly leverage these technologies; and develop secure digital communications for military drones across all domains (air, sea and land). Addressing these priorities together will enable this effort to be scaled across the alliance, at pace. To date, the speed of this effort has been breathtaking. So much so that even the United States and the United Kingdom — two allies who have invested the most in this area — are using the NATO initiative as a catalyst for their own national efforts. The last 12-plus months has seen the creation of a NATO project office, a governance body, as well as the planning and successful execution of the world's largest and most complex maritime unmanned systems exercise off the Portuguese coast in September 2019. This event brought together the very best from our navies, industry, scientific institutes and academia. The results were hugely impressive, with many “world firsts” including maritime unmanned systems augmenting conventional forces through multiple scenarios. We now have vast swaths of insight and information to start achieving those three goals of improving interoperability, enhancing our tactics and developing secure communications. The goal of improving allied interoperability is actually about enhancing standards. A topic often overlooked at the policy level but critical to the DNA of the NATO alliance. Standards drive interoperability, which in turn drives readiness, which ultimately aids deterrence. As NATO leads the development of new technologies, so too must come new standards that our industries and military can implement. Open architectures will be key, but allies and industry need to realize that we need to solve problems — not address requirements. No perfect solution will ever be delivered on the first attempt. The alliance will need to both innovate and iterate on operations in order to maintain advantage. This may be a cultural shift to some acquisition purists who are used to developing complex warships over 20-plus-year time frames. However, the challenge remains our ability to scale. With this project we have an agile global team functioning across multiple national and allied bureaucracies, each with their own culture and ways of working. Through engagement and investment, this team is yielding disproportionate results. Indeed, 2019 demonstrated what can be done with some imagination, effort and focus. But continual growth at speed will require faith by allies to maintain the course. Such is the nature of true change and innovation. There is a lot to do, and the stakes are high. Near-peer competitors are once again very real. Despite the global lockdown caused by the new coronavirus, COVID-19, the initiative continues to progress through synthetic networks and simulation, driven by passion and intent. Our economy, our data and its infrastructure still need protecting, now more than ever. This effort strives to accelerate maritime unmanned systems into NATO's arsenal to patrol the vast swaths of ocean and offset evolving threats. Success will be seen because it is being built on allied nations' shared values and norms, the same values and norms that NATO leaders recognized in London last year. Michael D. Brasseur is the director of naval armaments cooperation for the U.S. mission to NATO. He is also the first director of NATO's “startup,” the Maritime Unmanned Systems Innovation and Coordination Cell. Rob Murray is the head of innovation at NATO Headquarters. Sean Trevethan is the fleet robotics officer of the British Royal Navy, working in the future capability division at Navy Command Headquarters in Portsmouth, England. https://www.defensenews.com/opinion/commentary/2020/04/20/natos-start-up-charts-a-bold-future-in-maritime-unmanned-systems/

ARMY Shimmick Construction Co., Oakland, California, was awarded a $116,429,893 modification (P00012) to contract W912EK-19-C-0002 for rehabilitation of the LaGrange Lock and Dam. Work will be performed in Versailles, Illinois, with an estimated completion date of July 21, 2021. Fiscal 2020 civil construction funds in the amount of $116,429,893 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity. Luhr Bros. Inc., Columbia, Illinois, was awarded a $45,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for lease of dredge attendant plant and on-shore disposal of equipment for channel maintenance on the Ohio River. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2024. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Louisville, Kentucky, is the contracting activity (W912QR-20-D-0011). Khotol Services Corp.,* Galena, Alaska, was awarded a $12,000,000 modification (P00004) to contract W911SA-17-D-2000 for sustainment, modernization and improvement projects for the 88th Army Reserve Centers. Bids were solicited via the internet with four received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of April 30, 2020. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, is the contracting activity. AIR FORCE Honeywell Inc., Clearwater, Florida, has been awarded a cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price contract for engineering, manufacturing and development of the Embedded Global Positioning System/Inertial Navigation System Modernization (EGI-M). Work will be performed in Clearwater, Florida, and is expected to be completed by April 19, 2024. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition and only one offer was received. The estimated total value of this contract is $99,146,127. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $20,000,000 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Position, Navigation & Timing Contracting Branch, Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, is the contracting activity (FA8576-20-C-0001). NAVY Timken Gears and Services Inc., King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, is awarded a $76,187,806 firm-fixed-price modification to previously awarded contract N00024-16-C-4202 to exercise options for main reduction gear shipsets for DDG-51 (Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers). Work will be performed in Santa Fe Springs, California (76%); Riverside, Missouri (9%); Latrobe, Pennsylvania (2%); Fitchburg, Massachusetts (2%); Erie, Pennsylvania (2%); New Castle, Delaware (1%); Milwaukee, Wisconsin (1%); St. Augustine, Florida (1%); and other locations below one percent (6%). The main reduction gears transmit the power from two main propulsion gas turbines to the propulsion shaft. Each DDG 51-class destroyer has two gear assemblies, one for each propulsion shaft. The DDG 51-class guided-missile destroyer is a multi-mission surface combatant with 67 delivered ships, and 21 more are currently under contract. Work is expected to be complete by November 2023. Fiscal 2020 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funding in the amount of $76,187,806 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. BAE Systems Information and Electronic Systems, Nashua, New Hampshire, is awarded a $17,381,169 modification (P00001) to previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract N00019-20-C-0042. This modification procures the necessary hardware, technical engineering, management and logistics support to fabricate, assemble, test and deliver three T-1622/ALE-55(V) fiber optic towed decoys for a Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customer and 102 electronic frequency converters for the Navy. Work will be performed in Nashua, New Hampshire (48%); Chelmsford, United Kingdom (12%); Mountain View, California (6%); Rochester, New York (4%); San Diego, California (4%); Landenberg, Pennsylvania (3%); Hamilton, New Jersey (2%); Commerce, California (2%); Los Osos, California (2%); Toledo, Ohio (1%); and various locations within the continental U.S. (16%). Work is expected to be complete by March 2022. Fiscal 2020 procurement of ammunition (Navy and Marine Corps) funds in the amount of $13,088,010; fiscal 2020 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $4,027,080; and FMS funds in the amount of $266,079 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. Hi-Q Engineering Inc.,* Poway, California, is awarded a $17,315,857 ceiling increase modification to previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract N65236-17-D-8006 for engineering, test and evaluation, logistics and technical services for fixed very low frequency/low frequency broadcast transmitter stations. Work will be performed in Dallas, Texas (35%); Poway, California (30%); Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (15%); Charleston, South Carolina (10%); and Norfolk, Virginia (10%), and is expected to be complete by May 2022. This modification brings the total cumulative value of the contract to $55,972,607. No funds are obligated at the award of this modification. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Navy); fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy); fiscal 2021 other procurement (Navy); fiscal 2021 operations and maintenance (Navy); fiscal 2022 other procurement (Navy); and fiscal 2022 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $17,315,857 will be obligated on individual task orders as they are issued. Naval Information Warfare Center Atlantic, Charleston, South Carolina, is the contracting activity. Huntington Ingalls Industries, Pascagoula, Mississippi, is awarded a $7,142,318 fixed-price incentive (firm target) modification to previously awarded contract N00024-13-C-2307 to exercise an option for the accomplishment of post-delivery availability (PDA) work items for DDG-121. Work will be performed in Pascagoula, Mississippi. Immediately following the preliminary acceptance of the vessel, Huntington Ingalls Industries will complete the efforts required for PDA work items in the contractor's yard. The modification for PDA work items will be accomplished before the vessel departs and sails away from the contractor's shipyard. Work is expected to be complete by February 2021. Fiscal 2015 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy); and fiscal 2020 other procurement (Navy) funding in the amount of $7,142,318 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY American Water Operations and Maintenance LLC, Camden, New Jersey, has been awarded a $12,581,850 modification (P00037) to a 50-year utilities privatization contract (SP0600-15-C-8302) with no option periods to incorporating an increase to the operations, maintenance, renewal and replacement charges for water and wastewater utility service systems. This is a fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment contract. Location of performance is California, with a May 31, 2066, performance completion date. Using military service is Air Force. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Energy, Fort Belvoir, Virginia. *Small business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2157205/source/GovDelivery/

PENTAGON: The Pentagon's acquisition chief today said she expects major defense programs to be delayed by around three months due to COVID-19 closures and disruptions, while DoD rushes to pump $3 billion into the defense industry to bolster programs at greatest risk. Speaking to reporters here this morning, Lord said she expects to have to ask the White House and Congress for “billions” more to reimburse contractors affected by work delays and broken supply chains. “We believe it will cost us something,” she said, declining to get any more specific than “billions” of dollars. The months-long delays to programs will likely be spread throughout the defense industry as small parts suppliers shut down operations for days or weeks at a time. “We're looking at schedule delays and inefficiencies and so forth: this isn't about a particular program.” Lord singled out “a slowdown in the shipyards, to an extent. Aviation is actually the most highly impacted sector we have right now.” It's unclear what programs are at highest risk, but the Navy has been bullish on speeding up its new frigate program to award contracts some time this summer. If work slowdowns continue, that could be pushed further down the road. The Army and Navy have also been moving ahead on their nascent hypersonic weapons program, with a series of critical tests planned this year. Lord pointedly suggested that large defense companies need to start pushing more money into their supplier base to ensure small parts suppliers don't go out of business, further impacting new programs and ongoing maintenance efforts. She did praise Lockheed and Boeing for increasing cash flow to lower-tier suppliers, then not-so-subtly says, she is “hoping for similar public announcements from other major primes.” Last month, Lockheed said it would advance more than $100 million to suppliers hurt by the slowdown, and this week Boeing said it was reopening the Philadelphia-area facility where it makes the Chinook, the V-22 Osprey and other helicopters. The Pentagon is starting to award higher progress payment rates this week, pumping $3 billion dollars in increased cash flow to industry. “We try to anticipate the problems and work with the companies to keep going to the greatest degree possible,” Lord said. As part of that effort, DoD's first priority is the modernization process of the nuclear triad, she said: “we look at the Missile Defense Agency, we look at the critical capabilities. We're looking where the greatest pain points are.” While she singled out Lockheed and Boeing, shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls is making a push to speed up contracts and get money into the hands of sub-tier suppliers early, in order to ensure companies way down the supply base food chain can continue chugging along. In a recent interview, company representatives told me they've reached out to over 2,000 suppliers in 48 of the 50 US states. “We need their products today, but we also need them in 90 days, so we want to help them brave the storm,” said Lucas Hicks, vice president of new construction aircraft carrier programs. “We've actually changed some payment terms on some of our supplier contracts to try to make sure that we can front them what they need to stay afloat. We're doing some creative stuff to try and help them be able to weather the storm.” The Department's efforts to backstop the defense industrial base while taking steps to protect its workforce and purchase critical protective clothing like facemasks is still in its relative stages, despite the COVID-19 pandemic having been with us for months. “We are just really beginning to pick up momentum,” Lord said. https://breakingdefense.com/2020/04/pentagon-pumps-3b-into-industry-as-covid-19-delays-loom

By: Megan Eckstein The shipbuilding, aviation and small space launch sectors are the three hardest-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic within the defense industrial base, according to the under secretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, despite a slew of memos and authorities signed out by the Pentagon to relieve pressure from sick workers and facilities closures. “We see a slowdown in the shipyards to an extent. Aviation is actually the most highly impacted sector we have right now. So the 20 different memos that Kim Herrington (director of defense pricing and contracting) put out are really to make sure our cash flows and we quickly get on contract so we can keep going,” Ellen Lord told reporters on a Monday morning news conference. She said her team is still in the process of going program by program and understanding what production milestones may be at risk due to pandemic-related disruptions – everything from work slowing down on assembly lines to allow for social distancing, to coping with a smaller workforce as some employees are sick or taking leave to care for children at home, to breaks in the supply chain as component suppliers struggle to keep on schedule. For now, Lord said she could not point to any specific programs or any specific milestones most at risk, but she said major defense acquisition programs as a whole will face about a three-month slowdown due to COVID-19. To try to stay ahead of the spreading disease, “we follow very carefully where the highest number of cases are throughout the country and we look at the defense industrial base, where they are located, so we try to anticipate the problems and work with the companies to keep going to the greatest degree possible” and work with companies in emerging hot spots to put mitigation measures in place before their workforces are hit. Lord also said that, as the Pentagon takes a close look at its supply chain, “one of the key things we have found out are some international dependencies. Mexico right now is somewhat problematical for us, but we're working through our embassy. And then there are pockets in India as well.” Specifically on Mexico, she said there is “a group of companies that are impacting many of our major primes” in the airframe production industry. She said she spoke to the U.S. ambassador to Mexico last week and would speak to Mexico's foreign minister today to ask for help reopening these major international suppliers. Without naming companies or sectors, Lord said in her opening remarks that, of 10,509 major prime contractors, 106 are currently closed and 68 have closed and already reopened. On the vendor side, out of 11,413 companies, 427 are closed, with another 147 having closed and reopened. Though the Pentagon can't help companies having to close because the workforce is sick, leaders can ensure that companies with healthy workers aren't left without work and waiting for contracts to be signed. The Navy and DoD have accelerated contract awards and urged prime contractors to quickly push work down to their suppliers of all sizes, so that as soon as a company is ready for new work, the work is awarded and money already paid. “I remain proud of the department's responsiveness in addressing defense industry concerns outlined on [regular calls between the Pentagon and industry associations]. Mr. Kim Herrington, director of defense pricing and contracting, has issued 20 defense pricing and cost memos, aggressively responding to industry needs and impacts. Those memos include guidance for increased telecommuting, increased progress payment rates, acquisition timeline impacts, relief for those who cannot work, and more,” Lord said. “Vice Adm. David Lewis, Defense Contracting Management Agency director, modified 1,500 contracts to help companies to file invoices at the higher progress payment rate, and he also worked with Defense Finance and Accounting Service for a seamless transition for invoices. Based on submitted invoices, we expect payments at the higher progress payment rate to start this week, helping provide $3 billion in increased cash flow to industry. I commend Lockheed Martin and Boeing for both publicly committing to ensure this cash flow goes quickly down the supply chain to small businesses who need it most. We are hoping for similar public announcement from other major primes.” In addition to the actions the Pentagon can take on its own to help industry, Lord said the Defense Department is actively in talks with lawmakers and staffers to discuss a follow-on economic stimulus bill in the works. Though she couldn't get into specifics, she said it would cost DoD “billions and billions” to implement a section of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act “which allows agencies to reimburse contractors for payment to workers who are prevented from working due to COVID-19 facility closures or other restrictions.” She said the Pentagon hoped to see some funding in the next stimulus bill to help with that bill, as well as to pay for medical supplies and cover costs of delays in major defense acquisition programs. So far, the Defense Logistics Agency has provided more than 1.8 million N95 masks, 3.2 million non-medical and surgical masks, 8.4 million pairs of exam gloves, 275,000 surgical gowns and 8,000 ventilators to the military services, which are being used both to keep DoD personnel healthy as well as to support DoD's contribution to the multiagency efforts around the country. The Pentagon has also provided 10 million N95 masks to the Department of Health and Human Services and the Federal Emergency Management Agency and is prepared to give another 10 million from DoD stockpiles. Additionally, DoD will invest $133 million to increase domestic production of N95 masks to more than 39 million in the next 90 days, Lord announced. Contracts have been finalized with 3M for $76 million, O&M Halyward for $29 million and Honeywell for $27.4 million. Beyond new mask production, DoD also spent $415 million to buy 60 Battelle Memorial Institute Critical Care Decontamination Systems that will be able to sterilize N95 masks to allow for reuse up to 20 times, and therefore reduce the demand for new masks. “Six units were delivered last week, including two to New York and one each to Columbus, Ohio; Boston; Chicago; and Tacoma; providing the ability to sterilize 3.4 million masks a week, reducing the need for new masks by the same number,” Lord said. “All 60 systems will be available by early May for prioritization and distribution by Health and Human Services and Federal Emergency Management Agency. Once all are delivered, these 60 units will allow 4.8 million masks to be sterilized per day, almost 34 million per week.” https://news.usni.org/2020/04/20/dod-shipbuilding-aviation-hardest-hit-sectors-in-defense-industrial-base-by-covid-pandemic

Good evening, Thank you to those who participated in this afternoon's update call with Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains. If you weren't able to join the call, we've uploaded the audio here: https://bit.ly/2VQHxZV We were pleased to have both Minister Bains and Iain Stewart, President of the National Research Council, on the call today to provide an overview of how the government plans to use the Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP) to support Canadian innovators who are ineligible for the 75% Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) and other stimulus measures announced to date. Our call with the Minister comes on the heels of an announcement by the Government of Canada to increase IRAP's funding envelope by $250M and double the funding available for Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) with an investment of $962M. For more information about the new IRAP program announced today, visit https://nrc.canada.ca/en/support-technology-innovation/register-nrc-irap-innovation-assistance-program. And while the majority of the call today did focus on the IRAP program, more information about accessing support from the RDAs is expected in the coming days, and we'll update you accordingly. I'd like to pause and thank you all for participating in our national advocacy efforts to support the Canadian technology ecosystem. By showing up, being counted, and sharing your stories with your local government representatives and members of the media, you're helping to reorient Canada's economic policies towards the 21st century innovation economy and keep Canadians working. Your advocacy matters and your voices are being heard, as Minister Bains acknowledged on the call today. Advocacy is most effective when we all speak with one voice, and over the past number of weeks, you've all put on your jersey's for Team Canada, and it's made a difference. Congratulations to you all. You can see your advocacy at work in these articles published today in various Canadian newspapers: The Globe and Mail: Ottawa unveils $1.2-billion in pandemic funding for startups, small business Betakit: Federal government commits additional $250 million in IRAP The Logic: Navdeep Bains on Ottawa's plan to save Canadian tech amid COVID-19 Financial Post: Ottawa to provide $250 million to prop up strategic innovative firms hurt by COVID-19 Have a great weekend, Ben Benjamin Bergen Executive Director Council of Canadian Innovators \ Conseil Canadien des Innovateurs

Lee Hudson The Pentagon predicts there will be a three-month slowdown for major defense acquisition programs because of the novel coronavirus pandemic. Aerospace, shipbuilding and small launch are the most vulnerable sectors in the wake of COVID-19, Pentagon acquisition executive Ellen Lord told reporters April 20. Out of the 10,509 major prime contractors, 106 have shuttered their doors, and 68 have closed and reopened. Of 11,413 vendor-based companies, 427 are shut down, with 147 having closed and reopened, she said. Lord's team has not identified specific programs but anticipates there will be schedule delays, she said. One of the measures the military is taking to support the defense industrial base is boosting progress payment rates to contractors, raising them for large businesses from 80% to 90% and for small businesses from 90% to 95%. “Based on submitted invoices, we expect payments at the higher progress payments to start this week, helping provide $3 billion in increased cash flow to industry,” Lord said. “I commend Lockheed Martin and Boeing for both publicly committing to ensure this cash flow goes quickly down the supply chain to small businesses who need it most.” The DOD is hoping other large defense contractors will make similar public announcements. The Pentagon's small business program office hosted a webinar with more than 1,000 companies to address their unique concerns, she said. Over the last few weeks, Lord's team has focused on supply chain “illumination” tools and found “international dependencies.” Specifically, the defense industrial base is being hit hard by supplier closures in Mexico and India. Lord spoke with the U.S. ambassador to Mexico on April 17 and on April 20 was sending a letter to the Mexican foreign minister asking for help in reopening international suppliers. The Pentagon also is hoping for additional aid from the American people via the second Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Lord would not pinpoint a particular amount, but the money sought is incremental funding for inefficiencies related to contracting, Defense Production Act (DPA) Title III, the defense industrial base and medical resources. In the inaugural CARES Act, DOD received $1 billion for DPA Title III, $750 million for medical resources and $250 million for the defense industrial base. The DPA Title III medical resources priorities are N95 masks, ventilators, active pharmaceutical ingredients, testing kits, suppliers and reagents, vaccines and delivery systems. The defense sector focus areas for DPA Title III include machine tools and industrial controls, aircraft supply chain illumination, chem bio, directed energy, radar, munitions, missiles, space, shipbuilding, soldier systems and ground systems. To date, the Defense Logistics Agency has provided more than 1.8 million N95 respirator masks, 3.2 million nonmedical and surgical masks, 54.8 million exam gloves, 8,000 ventilators and 275,000 isolation and surgical gowns to the military services, combatant commands, and several federal agencies, Lord said. “We have ordered face coverings for the workforce, 3 million active duty, guard, reserve and government civilians with deliveries starting this week,” she said. “We expect 135,000 by the end of April and 580,000 by the end of May.” For the first time ever, U.S. Transportation Command (Transcom) was able to use the Defense Threat Reduction Agency-developed transport isolation system to move three COVID-19 positive patients from Afghanistan to Germany. The system was developed in 2014 during the Ebola crisis. “The joint staff, Transcom, and the Air Force continue to work to ensure that we can safely transport COVID-19 patients from overseas locations to the United States,” Lord said. “We just issued a memo that directs contracting officers to support a U.S. Forces Afghanistan memo to redeploy at-risk contractor employees due to insufficient medical capability in-country.” The Pentagon anticipates this will affect fewer than 1,000 personnel. https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/budget-policy-operations/pentagon-predicts-three-month-major-program-delay

Le gouvernement sud-coréen décide de réduire de 2 % le budget de défense initialement prévu pour 2020 et qui s'inscrivait sur une hausse de 7,4 %. L'avion de combat F-35 en est la première victime. Moins que prévu pour la défense Conséquence de la mobilisation budgétaire pour amortir les conséquences économiques de la pandémie de coronavirus ou covid-19, le gouvernement sud-coréen, par la voix de son ministre de l'Economie et des finances, annonce une réduction du budget de défense initialement programmé pour l'année 2020. Ce budget avait été b'ti sur une hausse de 7,4 % pour s'élever à 41 Md$. Il baissera finalement de 2 %, soit près de 740 M$ de moins que prévu. Sur ce total, les réductions portent essentiellement sur les achats d'équipements de matériels programmés, soit 582 M$. F-35 et Aegis Dans la même temps, le ministère sud-coréen de la Défense a commencé de négocier avec Lockheed Martin le report des paiements prévus sur les avions de combat F-35 acquis par la Corée du Sud ainsi que sur le système combat Aegis qui associe radars haute puissance et missiles anti-navires et missiles anti-aérien. https://air-cosmos.com/article/coronavirus-la-core-du-sud-rduit-son-budget-de-dfense-22948